Tariffs Catch-All

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Bear with me a brief bit here.

Despite the comparisons, even from his own Vice President, Trump is not Hitler. He's not going to set up literal death camps. He's not a zealot about "social issues," like Hitler was. Trump couldn't care less about social issues other than how they may serve him. He has no actual social or moral values. But perhaps he's a zealot about economics? Again, bear with me a brief bit.

While fascism can function, albeit despicable and horrible, the most virulent form this world has ever seen (Nazism), is completely untenable. It is completely irrational and self-destructive. Nazism obliterates itself eventually, because how could it not! It's in its DNA. Despite all the talk about preserving civilization and society and what-not, it is antithetical to all those things. Nazism is like the "humans" from the film Pandorum that have adapted to life in the reactor of a ship in deep space over millennia. Or perhaps a better deep space Sci-Fi analogy - the people all eating one another in Event Horizon.

So, while the comparisons of Trump to Hitler are trite and stupid, I will posit that Trumpism is "economic Nazism." Just completely irrational. It will destroy itself in time. Only question is how many of us it takes with it.
 
And because I grew up with the same mentality, I can just imagine there's many a MAGA household child out there, looking up to their father and asking, "But he's trying to help us, right, daddy? No matter what happens?"

No!

The reason he's always been so obsessed with tariffs is because he's a complete and utter failure at business. He could not excel in the world given to him, so being a narcissist with "galaxy brain," he thinks a world of tariffs and trade wars will finally be where he proves his true genius. Perhaps even becomes the richest man ever!

It's all so dreadfully stupid.
 
MendotoManteo said:
Bear with me a brief bit here.

Despite the comparisons, even from his own Vice President, Trump is not Hitler. He's not going to set up literal death camps. He's not a zealot about "social issues," like Hitler was. Trump couldn't care less about social issues other than how they may serve him. He has no actual social or moral values. But perhaps he's a zealot about economics? Again, bear with me a brief bit.

While fascism can function, albeit despicable and horrible, the most virulent form this world has ever seen (Nazism), is completely untenable. It is completely irrational and self-destructive. Nazism obliterates itself eventually, because how could it not! It's in its DNA. Despite all the talk about preserving civilization and society and what-not, it is antithetical to all those things. Nazism is like the "humans" from the film Pandorum that have adapted to life in the reactor of a ship in deep space over millennia. Or perhaps a better deep space Sci-Fi analogy - the people all eating one another in Event Horizon.

So, while the comparisons of Trump to Hitler are trite and stupid, I will posit that Trumpism is "economic Nazism." Just completely irrational. It will destroy itself in time. Only question is how many of us it takes with it.
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Here’s the thing:

Trump is an empty vessel. He cares only about what benefits him.

He has found that actual fascists and neonazis and white nationalists appreciate his bluster and his lack of a moral compass. They praise him, give him things, give him money, allow him to feel like a king.

In return, he allows them to dictate policy. He has no desire to do the actual work of governing and learning about policy issues—he’s exceedingly happy to let other do all that work, while he tweets and watches press coverage of himself and golfs.

So while it’s fair to say that Trump himself isn’t truly fascist in terms of political ideology and racial/cultural issues, he allows the actual fascists to do his work for him.
 
Last thing I will say, unprompted, is that - as I suspected - it took money to finally awaken people to the harm this man intends.

The Russian thing never mattered. The inept response to Covid never mattered. The coup attempt never mattered. The illegal deportations and all the dictator talk never mattered. All the shakedowns and naked corruption never mattered. The just being an absolute moron never mattered. Etc. Etc.

Money. That's what mattered.

I am reminded of the scene from Game of Thrones when Khal Drogo dumps the melted gold over the head of Daeneyrs's brother.

"A crown for a king." Indeed. And every American should receive it.

 
EyeballKid said:
Here’s the thing:

Trump is an empty vessel. He cares only about what benefits him.

He has found that actual fascists and neonazis and white nationalists appreciate his bluster and his lack of a moral compass. They praise him, give him things, give him money, allow him to feel like a king.

In return, he allows them to dictate policy. He has no desire to do the actual work of governing and learning about policy issues—he’s exceedingly happy to let other do all that work, while he tweets and watches press coverage of himself and golfs.

So while it’s fair to say that Trump himself isn’t truly fascist in terms of political ideology and racial/cultural issues, he allows the actual fascists to do his work for him.
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Make no mistake about my post. What he represents and supports is fascism. Yes, I totally agree. I was simply saying he has no actual values and that he isn't Hitler. But he may as well be economically. Economic Nazism.
 
superrific said:
Tell us how you really feel, lol. Not that I disagree.

Literally his first statement here is, "losing money costs you nothing" which is by definition completely absurd and clearly false. It costs you the money.

But let's keep this one bookmarked the next time that dumbass complains about losing money. I'm sure he does it on a regular basis.
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That is also tone deaf. This guy made somewhere between $40 and $50 million last year. Of course losing 20% is just a number st that point.

But middle class people rely on their savings to be able to make ends meet or to one day retire. It isn’t just a number to them.

And, sure, there are the others who have no assets but need a job to survive. I guess the verdict is still out on the impact on them (but we all know that it isn’t going to be good).
 
I had never heard of Bessent prior to his announcement as Treasury Secretary. Trump appointed some smart financial people during his first term (Gary Cohn, Jerome Powell, even Steve Mnuchin), so I figured Nessent would be similar. He has not impressed thus far.
 
ChapelHillSooner said:
That is also tone deaf. This guy made somewhere between $40 and $50 million last year. Of course losing 20% is just a number st that point.

But middle class people rely on their savings to be able to make ends meet or to one day retire. It isn’t just a number to them.

And, sure, there are the others who have no assets but need a job to survive. I guess the verdict is still out on the impact on them (but we all know that it isn’t going to be good).
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Hey Sooner! Been a while. How are you and your son doing?
 
Bobfripp said:
I'm trying to get a better understanding of what Pres. Meathead is trying to do ... it seems he's following the advice of Stephen Miran. :unsure:

www.lowyinstitute.org

Unpacking the Mar-a-Lago Accord | Lowy Institute

The idea is unlikely to deliver the reduced deficits and bring back good jobs that are the primary motivation.
www.lowyinstitute.org www.lowyinstitute.org
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Trump usually has no consistent set of beliefs about anything other than whatever makes him money and keeps him in the media spotlight. He's always been a celebrity hog and reality show star, not a businessman or politician. Having said that, I do think he's really convinced himself that the Gilded Age was a fabulous time for America and that a big part of the reason for that were high tariffs and American imperialism. Even though he seems convinced of this, though, I do think that as the absolute disaster of this settles in that he'll back off, as he has already done in some areas when it became unpopular. The problem is that he's screwing us with other nations in the long term, even if he does back away from some of this insanity. Nobody is ever going to trust us or give us the benefit of the doubt ever again. And if he doesn't back off then our current economic tailspin is simply going to continue for a long, long time.
 
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“…Trump personally selected a formulathat was based on two simple variables — the trade deficit with each country and the total value of its U.S. exports, said two of the people, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to recount internal talks.

While precisely who proposed that option remains unclear, it bears some striking similarities to a methodology published during Trump’s first administration by Peter Navarro, now the president’s hard-charging economic adviser.

After its debut in the Rose Garden on Wednesday, the crude math drew mockery from economists as Trump’s new global trade war prompted a sharp drop in markets.

… After deliberations that went late into Tuesday, Trump didn’t decide on the final plan until about 1 p.m. Wednesday — less than three hours ahead of his Rose Garden announcement.

… “He’s at the peak of just not giving a f--- anymore,” said a White House official with knowledge of Trump’s thinking.

“Bad news stories? Doesn’t give a f---. He’s going to do what he’s going to do. He’s going to do what he promised to do on the campaign trail.” …”
 
nycfan said:


“…Trump personally selected a formulathat was based on two simple variables — the trade deficit with each country and the total value of its U.S. exports, said two of the people, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to recount internal talks.

While precisely who proposed that option remains unclear, it bears some striking similarities to a methodology published during Trump’s first administration by Peter Navarro, now the president’s hard-charging economic adviser.

After its debut in the Rose Garden on Wednesday, the crude math drew mockery from economists as Trump’s new global trade war prompted a sharp drop in markets.

… After deliberations that went late into Tuesday, Trump didn’t decide on the final plan until about 1 p.m. Wednesday — less than three hours ahead of his Rose Garden announcement.

… “He’s at the peak of just not giving a f--- anymore,” said a White House official with knowledge of Trump’s thinking.

“Bad news stories? Doesn’t give a f---. He’s going to do what he’s going to do. He’s going to do what he promised to do on the campaign trail.” …”
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“… Countries tried to offer up policy changes ahead of time to spare themselves from the worst of the tariffs, not always successfully. India’s government last week announced plans to scrap a 6 percent tax on the advertising revenue of foreign companies.

The country was still hit with a 26 percent tariff, based on a formula that didn’t take into account the country’s policy change. …”

——
My speculation here, based on Trump Administration officials running to right-wing media to say they have folks lining up to make a deal, is that they knowingly and intentionally announced the higher tariff on India so they could later claim to have negotiated relief for India (and some other trade partners) that had already been agreed because they like the optics better that way.
 
nycfan said:
“… Countries tried to offer up policy changes ahead of time to spare themselves from the worst of the tariffs, not always successfully. India’s government last week announced plans to scrap a 6 percent tax on the advertising revenue of foreign companies.

The country was still hit with a 26 percent tariff, based on a formula that didn’t take into account the country’s policy change. …”

——
My speculation here, based on Trump Administration officials running to right-wing media to say they have folks lining up to make a deal, is that they knowingly and intentionally announced the higher tariff on India so they could later claim to have negotiated relief for India (and some other trade partners) that had already been agreed because they like the optics better that way.
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That or there was no plan and Grok just spat out the numbers at the 11th hour so they can get the chart made. The negotiating team probably had no communication with the team sent to fast signs for his props
 
altmin said:
That or there was no plan and Grok just spat out the numbers at the 11th hour so they can get the chart made. The negotiating team probably had no communication with the team sent to fast signs for his props
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Could be. They certainly underwhelmed with the errors in their presentation…
 
www.bangkokpost.com

Pichai sounds alarm on US trade surplus

Thailand needs to quickly reduce its trade surplus with the US by any means possible, says Finance Minister Pichai Chunhavajira.
www.bangkokpost.com www.bangkokpost.com

Thailand needs to quickly reduce its trade surplus with the US by any means possible, says Finance Minister Pichai Chunhavajira.

He said Thailand should import more items from the US for which there is substantial demand, such as agricultural products, automobiles, electronics and liquefied natural gas (LNG), which the country uses to generate electricity.

In the agricultural sector, Thailand must accept being both an exporter and importer of various products as changes in the local production structure mean raw materials are imported for processing into agricultural products, such as animal feed and food for people, said Mr Pichai.

He also discussed Thailand's potential in the global canned tuna industry, stating raw tuna supply is insufficient, making imports necessary.

Thailand could import tuna from the US for processing and export it not only to the US, but also to other countries, maximising the use of cold storage and processing facilities available, said Mr Pichai.

Regarding LNG, he said Thailand produces the gas in the Gulf of Thailand and imports it from Myanmar and other countries, but these gas reserves are dwindling.

The US has abundant LNG at competitive prices, and any purchases from that market should be made at reasonable prices, said Mr Pichai.

"Reducing the trade surplus with the US to a level they find acceptable is key. The closer to zero, the better. This can be achieved in two ways: maintaining the same size of the economy [bilateral trade volume], and increasing imports from the US," he said.

"We want to increase the size of the economy, with both imports and exports rising."

Mr Pichai said the effect of the US tariff increase is significant and involves several complex steps.

The tariff hikes have an international impact, affecting Thailand and the US, as well as Thailand's trade relations with other countries, which in turn trade with the US, creating multiple layers of impact, he said.

Mr Pichai said if this issue is not resolved, it could negatively impact Thailand's GDP, leading to fewer jobs and reduced exports.

He said retaliatory measures are not the correct approach, as Thailand is a small country and mishandling this issue could reduce Thailand's GDP by at least 1 percentage point.

Please credit and share this article with others using this link: Pichai sounds alarm on US trade surplus. View our policies at Bangkok Post - The world’s window on Thailand | Breaking news, Thailand news, Latest news, World news and http://goo.gl/ou6Ip. © Bangkok Post PCL. All rights reserved.
 
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